Inky seas hold a woman’s body floating face down as mournful cello music builds. The water is now vibrant and inviting after a fast title and dissolve. The view pans across a charming Croatian seaside village. As bright-eyed new mom Beth (Leighton Meester) rides in a taxi to a girls’ weekend getaway with her closest friend Kate, everything is sunlight and palm trees (Christina Wolfe).
Kate is paying for the entire trip, including the most luxurious AirBnB, raw oysters, and enormous amounts of alcohol. She is in free fall following the divorce of her marriage. Since Beth’s semester abroad in England, when Kate introduced Beth to her future husband Rob, they have been the closest of friends (Luke Norris). Since the birth of Aster, Beth’s daughter, the ladies have become more dispersed.
Smooth camera movements
With smooth camera movements, Farrant and cinematographer Noah Greenberg depict Split, Croatia’s seductive sunny beauty. Stone buildings from antiquity stand out against pink sunsets. The cityscape is usually in the background of the performers as they are framed like vintage postcards or holiday shots. The tourist vibes persist throughout the entire movie, as if it were a slide show reliving the worst vacation ever, even as the plot takes darker turns.
One of them will pass away by the end of Beth and Kate’s weekend.The new Netflix thriller “The Weekend Away,” written by Sarah Alderson from her own book and directed by Kim Farrant, is modelled after those wonderful corny ’90s thrillers like “Double Jeopardy,” where the story has more turns than the winding roads Beth’s taxi takes to get to her AirBnB. But it’s all right. A thriller like this one is enjoyable because it allows you to lose yourself in its settings and become entangled in its web.
In contrast to exuberant Kate, who wears teal sequins and bright red lips, introverted Beth has messy hair and little makeup and chooses a sage green crochet dress for their big night out. Meester does a fantastic job of fusing the weariness of a new mother with the joy at seeing Kate again. While this is happening, Wolfe buzzes through her little presence, high on who knows what, and prepared to riot.
The “one night of excitement” they want to give Beth to break her rut begins at a smokey pub with neon lighting where they meet a couple of attractive men and concludes with Kate being AWOL. Unfortunately, much of the drama in this scene is diminished by the initial shot because we know Kate’s outcome before Beth does. However, the relationship between Beth and Zain (a soulful Ziad Bakri), a taxi driver and Syrian refugee who helps her retrace the night, is what makes this part of the movie work. Does everything here seem rational to you? Not really, no. However, Bakri gives his character such a deep interiority and moral compass that you almost buy into what the film is trying to convey.
The dedication of the lead actor and whether the audience wants her to succeed in getting out of this predicament are what make movies like this live or die. The movie wisely keeps to Meester’s point of view the entire time, anchoring the audience’s investment in her because she has always had such a charming screen presence. Farrant doesn’t hesitate to use a traditional close-up in the most intense scenes, giving Meester a chance to show off her expressive eyes.
Zain has Beth’s trust
The ideal potboiler is “The Weekend Away,” which is purposefully absurd. The performances are unforgettable, the location is stunning, and the plot twists keep the heart racing. You’ll have fun while it lasts even though you might not recall everything that happened.The movie explores the concept of trust in addition to the pleasurable shock value of the twists.. Even when Kate pushes her outside of her comfort zone, Beth still has faith in her. Their bond is based on that. Zain has Beth’s trust. When the police try to make her question this trust, he informs her in Arabic,
“The heart is your guidance.” Even though the police, Kate’s ex-husband Jay (Parth Thakerar), and even Beth’s own husband Rob try to convince her to reject what she instinctively knows to be true about her closest friend, Kate, Beth sticks by her gut. Meester and Bakri’s genuine performance helps the movie make its points about gaslighting even though its absurd premise undermines some of its impact.